Declare NCDs a national disaster, NCCK urges government

The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), is concerned about the growing pandemic of Non- Communicable Diseases (NCDs.

The people of the cloth who met for a two-day forum, to review the State of the Nation and also address the pandemic, said the scourge is responsible for more than 50 percent of hospitalisations and 39pc of deaths in the country.

Speaking after the two-day deliberations, Rev Dr Alphonse Kanga, the Chairman of the NCCK, Nairobi Region, appealed to the government, to declare NCDs a national emergency, considering it is now the leading cause of death after accidents.

“We call upon the government, to declare NCDs a national emergency, to facilitate attention and allocation of requisite resources, “he stated.

The Reverend also condemned the underfunding from the government, noting that only Ksh 8 billion had been allocated to the National Strategy on Non-Communicable Diseases (2022–2026), against a total budget of Ksh 37 billion.

He termed this allocation as “a manifestation of disdain for the suffering and deaths of Kenyans.

“It is grossly unfortunate that the government has not allocated adequate human financial resources, to managing the NCDs,” he said.

The NCCK Chairman further advised the government to curtail this trend as soon as possible, in order to rescue the nation from a full-blown NCD epidemic

Rev Dr Kanga called on the government to protect public health by regulating the consumption of high levels of sugars, salts, and saturated fats and oils, as well as educate Kenyans on health diets, by introducing front pack warning labels in order to safeguard their health.

“We call upon both the National and Counties the governments, to immediately enact laws and regulations that will require all food processors, to include clear, readable front-of-pack, warning labels and to address the targeting of children with advertisements for unhealthy foods,” the NCCK Chairman stated.

The NCCK also advised the government, through the Ministry of Health and relevant stakeholders, to adopt the nutrient profile model, as it is essential for providing standards, to determine acceptable levels of different nutrients across various food groups.

He urged the government to revert to the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), until the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF), is fully ready, noting that the rushed transition, has led to inaccessibility of essential healthcare services.

“We demand that the government suspends the implementation of the SHIF and reverts to the NHIF, until the SHIF puts all necessary measures and structures in place,” he said, noting that SHIF has brought no benefits to Kenyans, other than increased premiums paid by the public.

“We call for a radical change in the benefits provided under the SHIF, to ensure they match or at least are better, than the benefits we enjoyed ender the NHIF. It does not make sense to us that kenyans are now paying more, but are getting less benefits,” Dr Kanga stated

The two-day forum was running under the theme “Policy Framework for Healthy Lives”

Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), comprising cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and cancer are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.

In Kenya, NCDs are responsible for more than 50pc of in-patient hospital admissions and 39pc of all deaths annually.